Some Pumpkins-lite grunge, a solo release from one of James Brown's backing singers and catchy tunes in Arabic and Spanish are among the week's standouts.

POP
Silversun Pickups
Carnavas (Dangerbird/Sire)
****
Unfortunately for Silversun Pickups, the Smashing Pumpkins have recently reformed. If they hadn't, this Los Angeles quartet's marvellous replica of the Pumpkins' early Nineties pop-grunge sound would have been just the thing to fill the hole. On this debut they have similar dreamy, fuzzy guitars washing over the songs in waves of echoing effects, and in Brian Aubert they also have a delicate, high-voiced singer capable of breaking into a potent roar. Lazy Eye shows them at their best, gentle, interweaving guitars swelling over six minutes to an irresistibly powerful conclusion. Common Reactor carries off a similar trick almost as well, while Little Lover's So Polite is the catchy standout that could help them transcend even their most obvious influences. DAVID SMYTH

Marva Whitney
I Am What I Am (Freestyle)
***
Best known as one of James Brown's featured vocalists from 1967 to 1970 (and, of course, one of his girlfriends), Marva Whitney's first solo album, It's My Thing, sank without trace in 1969. A mere 38 years later comes the follow-up. Almost as curiously, it finds her backed by Japanese funkateers Osaka Monaurail who, appropriately enough, would have made a splendid backing band for Brown. The results are startlingly reminiscent of Whitney in her late Sixties pomp - especially I Am What I Am itself (not the Gloria Gaynor tune), the steamy Wrapp Things Up and a raw, desperately moving version of the gospel classic, Peace in the Valley. A couple of instrumentals merely add to the confusion, but a career is reborn.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

WORLD
Pink Martini
Hey Eugene! (Wrasse)
****
Pink Martini, from Portland, Oregon, are a feelgood band with a knack for catchy tunes. That, plus the seductive voice of China Forbes and sharp arrangements by Thomas Lauderdale, is surely the reason behind their popular success. Here, there are memorable original songs such as City of Night and Hey Eugene! plus their signature pastiches of different styles, sung in Spanish, French, Arabic and Japanese. The stylish Carmen Miranda song Tempo Perdido successfully avoids the cocktail lounge that the name Pink Martini might suggest, while the Abdel Halim Hafez song, Bukra Wba'do, sung in Arabic with a 25-strong chorus from Oregon, is deliciously unusual. It's numbers such as this that make you realise that Pink Martini are more than a popular show band. SIMON BROUGHTON

JAZZ
Michael Brecker
Pilgrimage (EmArcy/WA Records)
****
It's small consolation to his bereaved family and many fans, but the early demise of an artist does keep his music forever young. Michael Brecker completed this album only weeks before his death in January of leukaemia, and as a final testament it is exceptional. No perceptible weaknesses diminish the US tenor titan's scintillating playing and his nine mature originals (notably Anagram, Half Moon Lane and the ballad When Can I Kiss You Again?) seem to inspire guitarist Pat Metheny, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jack DeJohnette. These all-stars all worked with Brecker over the years, and give his music total respect. The group swings hard and the ensembles are as impressive as the solos. Highly recommended.
JACK MASSARIK